The first 2018 World Cup semi-final will take place on Tuesday 10th July at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg. The match will be contested by France and Belgium, meaning both semi-finals of this tournament will be played by European teams.
France and Belgium share a border, which means this can be classed as a derby game between the two nations on the biggest stage of all. France are aiming to reach the World Cup final for the first time since 1998, while Belgium are trying to get to their first World Cup final.
Both teams will believe they have what it takes to make it and we are in for a cracking game.
France started their World Cup campaign in Group C with Australia, Peru and Denmark. Despite winning both games against Australia and Peru, the wins came via a narrow one goal margin and France were not at their best.
The same applied in the 0-0 draw against Denmark, which was enough to see France top the group having made several changes to the starting XI.
The Round of 16 paired France with Argentina and this match saw the French come alive. They scored 4 goals in the game and played some excellent attacking football to win 4-3 and progress to a quarter-final meeting with Uruguay.
France survived some early pressure to take control of the match and scored from a Raphael Varane header. A mistake from the Uruguay goal keeper gifted France their second goal and Uruguay could not find a way through the French defence.
France have scored 9 goals in the tournament and conceded 4.
Belgium were drawn in Group G along with Panama, Tunisia and England. Having comfortably defeated Panama 3-0 in their opening game, Belgium netted five times against Tunisia to seal their place in the Round of 16 prior to their final match against England.
With a much-changed team, Belgium won the game 1-0 to finish top of the group and meet Japan in the Round of 16. Belgium conceded 2 goals and it appeared a major shock was on the cards as the clock ticked on in the second half. However, Belgium came back superbly to win 3-2 thanks to an injury time winner.
That win set up a mouth-watering clash with Brazil in the quarter-final and it didn’t disappoint. Belgium produced their best performance of the tournament, opening the scoring via an own goal and then producing a fantastic break to score a second through Kevin De Bruyne. Brazil pulled one back towards the end but Belgium held on for the win.
Belgium have scored 14 goals and conceded 4 at the World Cup.
Team news and France can welcome back Blaise Matuidi, who was suspended for the quarter-final against Uruguay. The Juventus midfielder is likely to be the only change from the team which started in the quarter-final.
Belgium will be without the suspended Thomas Meunier who picked up a yellow card against Brazil. Thomas Vermaelen may come into the team at right-back but Roberto Martinez could make a tactical switch and revert to three at the back.
This should be a very entertaining World Cup semi-final. Both teams are full of great players and if we get an early goal, there could be many more to follow. France and Belgium are very closely matched but the way Belgium played against Brazil suggests they could have the edge and reach their first World Cup final.